The Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning will meet up again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. The Lightning and Red Wing finished 2nd and 3rd in the Atlantic Division.

Detroit Red Wings X-Factor

The Detroit Red Wings need Niklas Kronwall to play real good in this series. Kronwall missed several games this year and his output has been the lowest since The 06-07 season. He still remains on the Red Wings Top defensive pair.

Tampa Bay Lightning X-Factor

Tampa Bay has been bit by the injury bug late in the season. With Victor Headman possibly coming back from injury, it will take a couple of games to get back into top form. Matt Carle has to come in to play and step up his game. Since Carle came back from injury he has been getting more playing time and has made good use of it. With Stamkos out the Lightning will need all the help they can get on special Teams play.

Who Wins the Series

As a Red Wings fan this is hard to say, but I think the Tampa Bay Lighting will win this series in 6 or less. The Red Wings inconsistent play on Defense and in Goal tending lead me to think that the Lightning offense will take advantage of it.

Week 17 of the NFL regular season has come to an end. The morning games set up the rest of the day in meaningful football.

Texans vs Colts: This game was a very inspirational and emotional game with Chuck Pagano coming back to coach the Colts to victory. The colts have huge momentum going into the playoff game against the Ravens. The Houston Texans have lost 3 out of the last 4 games and went from the #1 seed lock-in to the #3 seed.

Dolphins vs Patriots: The Patriots got great news before Sunday morning. Rob Gronkowski was coming back after missing 5 games with a broken forearm. Another reason why this game was because the Texans lost their game and they had the chance to move up in the seeding. In Typical Patriots fashion they beat the Dolphins 28 to 0 for their first shutout since 2009.

Chiefs vs Broncos: The Broncos also benifited from the Texans loosing the colts. In typical fashion the Broncos put on a clinic against the Chiefs and dismantled them sending them to the offseason as the #1 draft pick. The Broncos now have homefield advantage throught the playoffs.

Giants vs Eagles: In order for the New York Giants to keep the playoff hopes alive they needed to win against the Eagles. The Giants completed their task of beating the Eagles but still needed help to get in. They needed the Bears and the Vikings to loose.

Bears vs Lions: The Bears entered the Game needing a win to keep their chances of the playoffs alive. The Bears barley did enough to beat the Lions and eliminate the Giants. The Bears also had to do some scoreboard watching of the Packers vs Vikings game.

Packers vs Vikings: This game would determine if the Vikings would go to the playoffs and complete the amazing collapse of the Chicago Bears. More people seemed to care about if Adrian Peterson was gonna break the Single Season Rushing Record. This game was an exciting game to watch to the end. Even though the AP did not get the rushing record he reapetely told reporters that he was happier to go to the playoffs then have the record. His effort got him 9 yards short of the record.

Cowboys vs Redskins

This Sunday Night Football game decided who was top dog of the NFC East. Their were two players who domination post game chatter was sixth round draft pick Alfred Morris and Tony Romo. Morris ran for 200 yars and now owns the Redskins record for single season rushing record, which was previously owned by Clinton Portis. Tony Romo pretty much ruined the Cowboys playoff hopes with 3 Interceptions and not giving the defense any help.

The Chicago Bears who lost their 2nd challenge of the year to the Houston Texans in a rainy defensive battle 13-6. The Atlanta Falcons lost their 1st challenge of the season against the desperate New Orleans Saints 31 to 27.

The question after a Sunday of Football is are the Bears and Falcons still front runners for the SuperBowl? The answer to the question is no. The new front runers for the SuperBowl are the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers. The Houston Texans have had an impressive win over AFC contendor the Baltimore Ravens by the score of 43 to 13 and the new one this pass Sunday against the Bears. The only blemish on their record is from the other front runner for the Superbowl, the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have beat both the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans. The Packers have started off slowely to the season but have gotten progressivly better as the season went on.

The Bears and Falcons are still in the lead pack for the Superbowl but have got to win their challenging games in order to keep from falling any farther in the hunt for the SuperBowl.

The Bears have handled their schedule pretty good. The only loss they have is against the high powered Green Bay Packers. But the Bears have a challenge this upcoming Sunday against the Texans. The Texans have had a good season with only 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Texans have had an impressive game against the Ravens beating them 43 to 13.

Their are several questions for the showdown on Sunday Night

1. Can Houston adjust enough to beat the Bears Defense?

2. Can Jay Cutler perform on the national stage of SNF?

3. Will the matchup turn into an old school running football game?

This is probably going to be the game of the week in week 10 and a good midseason test for both teams.

The only team that is still undefeated in the NFL in the Atlanta Falcons. A lot of people are questionioning if the Falcons are legit. The critics do have a point for this years Falcons. They have not faced anybody that would have given them a fight this year. Atlanta still has to play their division rival, New Orleans Saints, two times this year. The Saints have seemed to find their groove and will still be a challenge for both teams to win against eachother. The third hard game the Falcons are gonna have for the next eight games are the New York Football Giants. The Giants have a good record that they are not to be messed with in December. That game will be a game to watch for the country.

Another reason the Falcons are getting questioned is because of their little playoff resume with Matt Ryan. When they got to the Playoffs last year they faced the Giants in the Wildcard round and layed an egg at MetLife Stadium. The Game was not even close with the Giants winning easily 24 to 2. It is a more experinced and better team this year. Can the Falcons keep it up and not choke. Lets watch and find out.

The Cincinati Bengals came into the game as favorites to beat the Miami Dolphins. Andy Dalton, the Bengals quarterback was struggling the whole game. He could not read the Miami Dolphins defense at all today. Dalton ended with a 1 touchdown, 2 interceprtion, and a 27.3 QBR. Even AJ Green, Dalton’s favorite target had a below par day with 9 catches with 65 yards. Ryan Tannehill took advantage of the Dolphins deafense being good he set up 2 rushing touchdowns and a field goal enough to win the game. Even though Tannehill had no Touchdowns his QBR of 79.7 showed he knew what he was doing out there.

Green Bay looses to Indy

The Packers had the League all the way until the 4th quarter giving up a pretty sizable lead. The Packers got off to a fast start and Luck and the Colts came back and won the game in comeback fashion. This is a statement game by Luck by leading a come back. The game also says the Packers have got to find a defense in order to compete with the elite. If they keep trying to rely on the offense the year will be a bust for the Packers.